Back to Where it began
by DragonClaw29
Summary: When Asuka finds herself back on Over the Rainbow after a brief conversation with Kaworu on the beach. She will need to use her quick wits and memory to make sure that everyone survives the ending. Can the fiery redhead do it or will her Pride continue to be her fall? Rated M just in case but probably no lemons!
1. Chapter 1

Hi For the record I don't own any of Evangelion that all goes to Hideaki Anno. This will be my first fic so wish me luck!

Shinji was tired, his eyes were like sunken disks on his face each threatening to close. To his right Asuka laid on the beach created from third impact. She had been still since she had stroked his face and Shinji had run out of tears hours ago. Instead, he sat curled up in a ball his back facing the giant monstrosity of the thing that used to be Ayanami Rei, or God. The events that had just conspired were still running around Shinji's head and he found himself missing his music player. He just wanted something to drown out the sounds of his own head.

After what seemed like Hours Asuka stirred from her sleep or whatever funk she had been. She turned and looked at Shinji who buried his face farther into his knees before looking back to the ocean of red. "Shinji, what did we do?" She asked softly the usual bite in her voice replaced by a soft almost frightened tone. After Shinji didn't respond Asuka slowly stood her legs wobbly. "Come on Baka, get up," Asuka said standing above him. Shinji said something but the waves splashing ashore made it impossible to hear. "What was that?"

"Aren't you going to yell at me?" Shinji said his voice barely audible.

"There is no point anymore. I've seen everything we've seen everything I think. It's hard to tell what happened in there. I remember seeing us in the apartment and our argument. I know what you did in the hospital room." Shinji tightened up at this somehow squeezing himself into an even smaller ball. "But I also know the thoughts behind it and behind all the actions you took during third impact, that doesn't stop me from thinking that it's completely disgusting."

"Then you should know that I shouldn't be forgiven. I hurt so many people, everyone is gone because of me, Toji, Kensuke, Rei, and even Misato are all dead because of me!" Shinji yelled out his head rising up to look Asuka in the eyes. Asuka's gaze didn't falter and for a minute they did nothing but stare each other down each of them not willing to waver. Eventually, Shinji broke eye contact and rested his head on his knees. "Baka you think that you're so important that you killed everybody, yeesh how annoying can you be obviously this was planned out by you idiot of a dad and SEELE."

"But I was the trigger for the actions and I still did horrible things to you!" Shinji responded. "Yes you did and you will have to make that up to me. I understand why third impact showed me, but that was still an ugly evil thing to do but not unforgivable at least for me. For being the trigger well then should we blame Wonder Girl for actually destroying the world?"

"I don't know. I wish I this had never happened, I wish that"

"I wish this I wish that nothing comes from wishing all you can do is stand and face the reality," Asuka said sternly before she began to walk towards the small cross Shinji had erected before her arrival she assumed. Time was a little messed up for her and she knew that if she stopped to give herself time to think she wouldn't be able to function. Her arm still ached from where the spear had split it and she could still feel the claws and teeth of the mass production models on her skin.

When she reached Misato's cross she bent down to look at the metal cross that hung from it. She knew Misato wasn't a great guardian figure, hell she wasn't even a good one but she never stopped trying. Even when Kaji, her thoughts stopped there. Even if she had been belittling Shinji about it earlier she did wish she could go back. "Do you really mean that?" Asuka jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see where it could be coming from. She saw nothing but the destroyed Eva series and Shinji. She must have been more messed up than she had originally thought Asuka thought. "Do you really wish to turn back time and prevent this from happening?" This time she knew she heard and when she turned around the figure of Kaworu was standing there. Asuka didn't know much about him, she was in the hospital during the crisis he caused and the bits and pieces third impact should her didn't shine an all too positive light on him.

"What are you doing here? I thought Shinji Killed you!" Asuka yelled taking a step forward. "Yes he did but death to Lilim and death to angels are two different things. For why I am here I represent the love mankind can have for one another but I also am here so that Shinji can find happiness."

"Shinji, Why the hell would you care about Baka Shinji! He is just a weak-willed spineless brat that does nothing but listens to his damn music player."

"I care about him the same reason you do because I love him. Before you retort I was part of third impact I know what you thought and what everyone thought in the sea of Didac." Kaworu said calmly ignoring the fact that Asuka's face had gotten completely red from anger or shame or maybe a mix of the two. "I have decided to send you back however as," Kaworu began looking over Asuka to the know still form of Shinji, "I don't believe Shinji will find full happiness here."

"You can do that?" Asuka said shocked.

"Yes so prepare yourself Asuka Langley Soryu you will have to face many more trials and I hope that you can remember the mistakes made not only by others but also by yourself. Goodbye!"

"Wait a minute wh" Was all Asuka was able to get out before she disappeared leaving a failed world behind her.

Asuka was many things, a good pilot, an incredibly smart individual and according to herself one of the finest examples of the fairer sex around' so when the sound of a ship's horn woke her up and she opened her eyes to see the insides of the cabin she had stayed in during her trip to Japan and she screamed she felt pretty justified in doing so.

Prologue over hope you enjoyed if not let me know how I can improve. Hope the dialogue felt real and natural. Have a good day!


	2. Chapter 2

As always I don't own EVA if I did I would have made the fourth movie by now.

Kaji was having an interesting trip, to say the least. For the last few days he Asuka had been aboard the Over the Rainbow, the girl he was supposed to be in charge of had been a handful. Especially last night he remarked softly remembering the awkward position he had been in when Asuka wanted to prove that she's adult enough for him. He knew that she was having difficulties and that she was trying to prove more to herself than to him that she was an adult but no matter what she did she was still a prepubescent teen. Besides last night a few other instances had caused him some grief liking her hanging off his arm everywhere he went and having to hide the contents of his briefcase from her. 'However, that was all going to change today' Kaji thought a sly grin coming to his face as the thought of a certain purple haired lady crossed his mind. Before Kaji could continue his musings a feminine scream pierced the air and immediately Kaji bolted off towards Asuka's cabin. This wasn't one of her normal screams of joy or frustration but something different and Kaji was not going to let something happen to her on his watch for as much as she troubled him he had grown rather fond of her.

When he got to the steel bulkhead door that shut Asuka off from the rest of the ship, the captain was persuaded to give her a room of her own, Kaji hurriedly opened it only to see a brief flash of red and felt himself be pushed back onto the ground. Kaji looked down at the weight on his chest and saw Asuka her face puffy, tears streaming down her face and her voice coming out in brief explosions of German. Kaji sat shelled shocked for a moment before he slowly wrapped his arms around the poor girl in an attempt to soothe her from whatever was wrong. Next to him he heard approaching footsteps of crewmembers trying to figure out what was wrong. Before long an entire crowd had formed around them trying to discern what was happening. Kaji realized that a crowd of people was probably not what Asuka needed so for after asking if one of them could grab the ship's doctor or medic, just in case, he picked Asuka up and carried her back inside her room.

The medic deduced that there was nothing physically wrong with her but she said that Asuka could be suffering from either a night terror or more worrisomely a PTSD flashback. The female medic was pretty sure it was the latter but a single fact had her very worried the few words that Kaji had been able to make out and tell her made it seem like she was delusional. Asuka seemed to be ranting about how Kaji was dead and how this couldn't be real and that everyone was gone. An hour or so passed before the two of them were able to calm the redhead down enough for her to fall asleep. Kaji then was drilled by the medic of what to do and was told to have Asuka check with a doctor as soon as she reached port. Kaji listened to the medic intently and after receiving all the advice she could give he watched as she wandered off back to her station. Kaji knew Asuka didn't have the happiest childhood by any means but her file spoke nothing of her having PTSD or night terrors which either meant that they had hidden it from him, but for what purpose, or NERV didn't know about these which seemed unlikely as she had been monitored constantly. The only other thing he could imagine was that these symptoms had just spontaneously shown up this morning but that seemed even more impossible. No matter what the case was he was going to need to talk with Misato about this; maybe as her former guardian she would know more about these fits than he did.

Asuka woke up feeling groggy with a pounding headache. At first, she didn't realize where she was and after briefly glancing around the room the memories began to flood back in. The mass production Eva's, SEELE, Shinji ending the world, her dying and Kaworu sending her back. With this realization, she lept out of bed and quickly got changed before opening the door to go and truly see if it had worked. When she was opening the door, however, she was greeted by Kaji who was in the process of opening the door to check on her. Asuka stopped for a moment just looking at Kaji before she ran forward and gave him a hug. Kaji seemed a little shocked but quickly got it, "Hey Asuka you doing okay?" he asked softly. Asuka didn't say anything rather she just held on tighter. "Asuka do you want me to get the doctor again?" This time the question confused the girl as to why he would imply that she needed one again. Breaking off she looked back up at him, "Again?"

"You don't remember this morning?"

"No, I don't. What happened?" Asuka asked worriedly as she felt her arm seeing if somehow going back in time had reversed some of her injuries from her fight with the mass production models.

"Its nothing physical Asuka, just that this morning I heard you screaming and when I came to check on you, you were crying and screaming something about how the world had ended," Kaji responded his eyes scanning her face to see if he could somehow ascertain what had transpired.

"Oh, I guess it must have just been a bad dream," Asuka said quickly trying to cover for herself. Inwardly she cursed at herself for doing whatever the hell she had done to get Kaji so upset. She needed to keep the fact that she was from the future on the down low as one no one would believe two if they did Nerv would probably find out and stop her from doing whatever she was going to do. Now that she thought about it what was she going to do? When Kaworu had sent her back she had no time to prepare and the more she thought about it the more she realized how massive this job was going to be.

"Asuka, Asuka!" Kaji yelled putting a hand on her shoulder to try and get her back to reality.

"What?" Asuka replied shaking herself from her thoughts.

"Are you sure you're okay you don't seem like it. There is nothing wrong with me getting a doctor for this."

"No I'm fine seriously Kaji, I just had a bad dream that all!" Asuka responded trying to muster up a smile. Kaji looked at her and they both knew that neither of them bought the act but Kaji sighed and turned to head to the mess hall. Asuka taking this as a sign quickly followed him there just now noticing how hungry she was.

Asuka's head was still reeling from the fact that she was back in time when she got the news that the helicopter carrying Shinji was about to land. She had no idea what she was going to do when she saw him, having lunch with Kaji was hard enough but Shinji was a whole different subject entirely. Should she act like she did last time or should she change it up? Would her changing it up mean that Shinji would also act differently towards her? Asuka felt like her brain was going to explode with the amount of thoughts running through it. So when the helicopter had begun its descent and a hat rolled by she was honestly shocked when she saw one of the three Stooges get a peek at her panties. So she responded the only way she knew how to, with a slap. For better or worse Asuka Langley Soryu was back and this time she would change things.

Well that chapters done. Let me know if you guys want the chapters to be longer. Again any advice is helpfull and I am always looking for constructive criticism. Hope you guys have a great day!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone sorry for the long update Thanksgiving and all that jazz. I am going to try and be more consistent with updating this story but I am a college student so things happen. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far I'll try not to be a lazy cow and read over my stuff better. As always hope you enjoy and let me know if I can improve in any way.

I do not own Evangelion if I did I would actually know what the hell was going on most of the time.

Shinji Ikari stifled a laugh as he watched his friend Toji get slapped again for attempting to show the redheaded girl in front of them his family jewels. He hadn't heard much about the pilot but guessing by what Misato called her he assumed her name was Asuka. Toji rejoined the group nursing his cheek with his right hand and complaining about the viewing fee distracted Shinji for a moment so he missed the somewhat horrified face that Asuka put on when she saw him smile. If he had seen it he may have wondered what could have disgusted her or traumatized her so much about something as basic as him smiling but he didn't so he was left blissfully unaware. Shinji's thoughts returned to the redhead when she jaunted over to him. The first thing he noticed up close was her piercing blue eyes, they say the eyes were the windows to the soul and if that was true then Asuka would be filled with a fiery determination. Another thing about her eyes that struck him was how they were the exact opposite of Rei's it was funny really the more he thought about it the more Rei and Asuka were like mismatched copies of each other one having red eyes and blue hair the other the opposite. He quickly wondered if their personalities to were going to be opposite but the question was left behind when he realized they had been staring at each other. Shinji quickly turned blushing slightly while in the back Misato's laughed and Toji accused of him being a traitor. Asuka for her part didn't turn her away at all rather she watched as Shinji turned away; her lip seeming to quiver for a moment before she clutched her right arm with left. It went unnoticed and when Misato got a hold of herself she turned to her former caretaker and smiled.

"You've gotten much more womanly since I last saw you Asuka!" Misato said causing Asuka to turn to her.

"Thank you, you're looking good as well."

Asuka replied shocking Misato when she ended the conversation there. Asuka was many things but quite was not usually one of them which meant either the past couple of years had changed her, unlikely given the slap mark on Toji's face, or something was bothering her. Deciding not to push the issue, for now, Misato decided to tell her who she would be working with.

"This," Misato began pushing Shinji slightly to move him back in front of her, " Is the Third Child Shinji Ikari"

"Hi, I hope we can work well together."

Shinji said meekly bowing his head. Asuka said nothing but rather closed her eyes for a brief moment before holding out her hand.

"I'm Asuka Langley Soryu it's nice to meet you."

Shinji took the hand and was surprised by the firm grip Asuka gave. Toji and Kensuke both voiced their opinions on the meeting quickly after Asuka let go over Shinji's hand each of them deciding the treatment of Toji was uncalled for. Shinji smartly stayed out of it but he did notice Asuka glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

Deciding that they had spent enough time on the deck of the ship Misato marched in followed closely by her admirers and the German girl. In the captain's bridge, Misato had a quick argument with the captain that was quickly interrupted by a dramatic entrance from Kaji. Misato immediately turned and screeched at him which all he gave in response was a quick but flashy smile. Kaji did, however, turn away from Misato to look at Asuka for a moment to see if she was doing better. She seemed fine but he couldn't help but feel that this morning incident was still weighing over her. Misato caught his look and was about to accuse him of being such a pervert that even young girls were at risk but she noticed the worried look in his eyes making her think that it might not have been just her who noticed Asuka's strange behavior. When the group finally left the bridge Kaji asked if the kids could go the mess hall by themselves while he talked to Misato. Asuka said nothing but nodded her head and racked her brain to see if she could remember where the mess was. Misato wanted to put up a fight but the look Kaji gave her said it was too serious to be left alone.

"So what do you need to say? If it's about us I can already tell you it's over." Misato started crossing her arms over her chest.

"Unfortunately it's not about how I would love to get in your smooth arms," Kaji began getting an angry glare from Misato before quickly finishing " it's about Asuka."

"I noticed she seemed, distant," Misato said struggling to figure out the exact word to use.

"I was afraid of that."

"What did you do!" Misato said sharply her tone leaving no room for jokes.

"I did nothing, this morning I heard her screaming in her room. When I reached it she was in tear and very delusional it seemed the little words were hard to understand as they were in German but I think she kept asking me how I was alive." Kaji said meeting Misato's cool glare.

" Do you know what caused this?"

"I don't know that's what I wanted to ask you. You raised her after the incident with her mother did she show any signs of night terrors or PTSD?"

"No, none of that she was definitely traumatized but I think she internalized most of it and I never saw her having any flashbacks," Misato said remembering how quiet the girl had been during the first few months she had met her.

"Her file said the same thing I was just curious about your response. Something either broke or she was telling me the truth when she said it was just a bad dream."

"I'll keep an eye on her. Thank you." Misato said the last part coming out almost as a whisper as she turned and left. Kaji watching her leave smiled for a moment before shouting, "You need to take a left not a right at the corridor".

Misato for her part said nothing but the glare she sent Kaji's way had him burst into laughter.

Asuka was sitting with the three boys after finally finding her way to the mess hall. In front of her was a plate of food she didn't feel like eating as well as a group of people she didn't want to talk to. Seeing them had been harder than she had thought it would be, Shinji especially. It had taken all her willpower not to just run off into her room like some frightened school girl. When Shinji smiled it was almost like a nail driving into her heart, that moment made her realize how broken he would become in the coming months. Shinji didn't smile much in the beginning either but near the end, right before her incident, she can't remember her smiling at all. Not that she was all smiles either she could still see the pool of blood leaking out of her wrists if she closed her eyes. Misato had been hard in a different way, after finding out that her mother was still watching over her it made her somewhat rethink what Misato had been trying to do. Misato was trying to do what Asuka's mother was not able to do for her during her time outside unit two, look out for her. Was she perfect, no Misato had tried to help her out which was more than she could say of her own father. Asuka knew that it just happened that Misato had no idea what to do as a parent and that her unwillingness to rely on others made Misato's task to try and help her all the more difficult. Asuka didn't really understand her situation right now but she did know that maybe she should let Misato be a little closer than before. She was interrupted from her thoughts by the questioning of the loudest of the Stooges,

"Food too bad here for a princess like you to eat huh?" Toji said causing Asuka's temper to flare.

"No you mongrel, I was thinking you know that thing you probably attempt to do time to time when you're not perving over girls."

Asuka replied hotly. Of course, Toji attempted to rise to the challenge and soon the entire mess hall was filled with the sound of insults as the two went back and forth. Sometime during this Kensuke had taken out his recorder to start filling the sequence while Shinji feebly attempted to get the two to calm down but neither of them heard him. The fight would have gone on much longer if a fuming Misato hadn't barged in and sat down beside Shinji with Kaji coming in a moment laugher a grin plastered on his face. Asuka seeing the two enter and find seats also sat down with Toji begrudgingly follow her lead. The group then entered a period of light chit chatter with a noticeable moment when Kaji asked Shinji what Misato's sleeping habits were which confused the poor boy but horrified Misato. When the meal was finished Asuka stated that she wanted to show Shinji Unit two before grabbing his arm and dragging him to the cargo ship it was on.

Asuka deftly through the plug suit to Shinji who stared at it dumbfounded as she grabbed one for herself.

"Well put it on Baka, and do it at the bottom of the stairs and I swear if you peek at me while i'm changing you will be in a world of hurt." Asuka said causing Shinji to rush up the stairs. Once she was sure he was near the top of the stairs she began to get into her plug suit feeling a wave of nostalgia as she did so. This was the last thing I had worn when I died, Asuka thought somberly feeling the material rub against her skin. Once it was safely on she turned and looked down the stairs only to get a glimpse of Shinji's back as he attempted to put on her suit. She blushed slightly before quickly turning back and ignoring the part of her that said keep looking.

When the two of them finally entered the hangar for unit two she quickly got them inside . She could feel Shinji pressed up behind her and wore a very pleased face at his reaction to her. Even after all they had gone through together she was still happy that she could have this affect on him. However she knew this wasn't the time to tease him too much as an Angel was set to arrive. Quickly switching the language from German to Japanese with Asuka deciding she was going to teach him German . After that Asuka took a brief moment to send a silent thanks to her mother in the Eva. She knew that she got the message as she felt a warmth envelop her. When Misato announced that an Angel appeared Asuka feigned her surprise and got ready for the fight in front of her. Shinji behind her almost screamed when he saw the redhead blast off the cargo ship onto the aircraft carrier landing on it like a ballerina. Asuka ignored him and instead looked for the rippling of the water to identify where the beast was lurking. She spotted it after a quick scan and immediately grabbed the tow cable and launched herself and Shinji into the water after it. Shinji for is part after the first initial panic had begun to calm down and began to feel what unit two was doing. It was over almost as quickly as it began with the two pilots inside acting almost as one as they pried open the angel's mouth and shoved a progressive knife into its red core. Landing safely on the ship and after defending Shinji from the other two stooges teasing, only she had that right, did Asuka let herself relax and for a brief moment enjoy the time before everything went to hell.

Well Hope you enjoyed that one. Changed up Asuka's original reaction a little and no battleship sinking this time. If the ending feels a little rush let me know and I'll try and improve. Next time Asuka deals with the some of the other cast members and dance!


End file.
